Future Scary Temple

[Skeletonband]

I was wondering if anybody has any ideas for a new spooky/scary temple. Personally I thought the Bottom of the Well was spooky enough but then comes along the Shadow Temple. Yea. And Arbiter's Grounds wasn't spooky enough. But that's besides the point.

So does anybody have any ideas on a new scary temple? Could just be a simple thing or a thought out thing. Let your ideas go wild.

I would like to see a temple that incorporates more death into the temple. Like Link is a part of a group of people going to get executed or left to die in a temple and he lives and finds his way out alone.

Or a tomb filled with undead and as you journey through the temple you uncover more and more about why the undead is here and all.

[Kilmiz]

The floors could be made of the skulls of heroes long dead, with the walls made of a river of screaming faces crying in pain.

that's one. want more?

[Zien]

The background music in OOT's forest temple was kinda of creepy.

YouTube - Ocarina of Time Music - Forest Temple

Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun

dundun-dundun-dundun-dundun...... ect.

The music could be changed even so slightly and be in the new temple.

[Skeletonband]

Originally Posted by Kilmiz

The floors could be made of the skulls of heroes long dead, with the walls made of a river of screaming faces crying in pain.

that's one. want more?

And possibly have random moans of pain or screams in the song.

Yea. Those are good ideas. Post more if you have any more.

[Verrick]

That stuff isn't scary. It's just cliche. If they wanted to make a scary temple, they'd have to make it so you have to stay on your toes. Always be ready, and have some freaky enemies.

[Kilmiz]

Originally Posted by Rhalen

That stuff isn't scary. It's just cliche. If they wanted to make a scary temple, they'd have to make it so you have to stay on your toes. Always be ready, and have some freaky enemies.

good point... but it COULD be scary... if the enemies are hard and fit in with the theme.

[Skeletonband]

Originally Posted by Rhalen

That stuff isn't scary. It's just cliche. If they wanted to make a scary temple, they'd have to make it so you have to stay on your toes. Always be ready, and have some freaky enemies.

True, it might not be scary to some people but to others it might be. But think about it, if you're playing the temple at night then all of a sudden you start to look at the mural of the screaming faces on the wall when you hear either people moaning in pain or a blood curtling scream. Wouldn't that scare you? I know it would for me.

[MDMwaker]

Maybe a giant underground tomb. In the center there'd be an endless chasam which could hell or something fraky like that. Oh and TP style Deadhand.

[Skeletonband]

I would like the place to have a backstory too. Maybe its a tomb for the damned. Like people would be falsly accused of stuff and be sent down into the tomb to be killed by Death Hand or something.

I have in mind a woman with a baby being escorted down into the tomb by two men in robes that cover their face and they lead her down into the tomb and they ride a boat across a river and they send her into the boss room...then she looks up and sees the boss and dies as she screams. At first she is screaming and trying to escape the men's grasp as she is being led down into the tomb but she stops and just silently cries and moans.

Possibly have it a twist and make it Zelda that dies.

[Kilmiz]

How about the boss stabs link threw the heart as soon as the battle starts, and have to fight dead...

no wait... that's lame...

[Twilight~09]

A scary temple...well

Have corpses hanging from walls, the odd one still twitching. Now that would be scary as hell!!

[shadow_link_08]

the music would definitely have to be scary, but also low-register, kind of quiet, so that it sets the mood but doesn't attract your attention

you would have to be on the edge of your seat, concentrating on the game, with, aside from the music and maybe a few flickering torches, the room so quiet you can hear link's footsteps

then, at random points throughout the temple, screaching zombies should jump out link through the walls, floor, glass, etc., but it would have to be totally sudden, and loud

think of halo, playing the library, when the flood just scream and jump out at you from nowhere

[Kilmiz]

Also make it easy to get lost.... and changing in was that are hard to tell at first that it's even changing.

[Razz]

I always thought it'd be cool if they made a dungeon that had a super-happy upbeat atmosphere, then suddenly you press a switch and the entire dungeon goes dark, and everything that was happy suddenly turns evil, and then you hear a moan off in the distance, something scuddling, and then a huge evil thing jumps at you out of nowhere

THAT would be awesome

[Adventurer]

I think the shadow temple had a good amount of scariness. Something like that in a Future Zelda would be cool, maybe like some kind of evil tower or something.

[Slime]

Vagrant Story's dungeons creep me out, even though it's not exactly a "horror" game. Most of them are the subterranean depths of an ancient city, and they have some of the creepiest ambiance I've ever experienced. If Zelda just had a dark, foreboding place with creepy moans and groans coming from no place in particular, then it would be satisfactorily scary for me. Cliche morbidity and gore don't scare me as much, but if there's a dark and oppressive atmosphere, then I tend to get creeped out.

Seriously, just pay attention to the noises in the background. It doesn't have the same effect there as when you're actually playing it alone in a basement at night, but it's still a little spooky.

[Verrick]

Originally Posted by Slime

Vagrant Story's dungeons creep me out, even though it's not exactly a "horror" game. Most of them are the subterranean depths of an ancient city, and they have some of the creepiest ambiance I've ever experienced. If Zelda just had a dark, foreboding place with creepy moans and groans coming from no place in particular, then it would be satisfactorily scary for me. Cliche morbidity and gore don't scare me as much, but if there's a dark and oppressive atmosphere, then I tend to get creeped out.

Seriously, just pay attention to the noises in the background. It doesn't have the same effect there as when you're actually playing it alone in a basement at night, but it's still a little spooky.

Quite right. It's all about the atmosphere set up by the full experience. Not moans and gore. That's more disgusting than it is scary.

[Lieutenant Lollipop]

Originally Posted by Rhalen

That stuff isn't scary. It's just cliche. If they wanted to make a scary temple, they'd have to make it so you have to stay on your toes. Always be ready, and have some freaky enemies.

Yeah. So freaky, that players **** their pants and won't even go into the temple.

[triskiller]

A wall decorated with lots of paintings or reliëfs(i dunno what you call em in america) a dark surrounding with an empty feel. You feel that you are alone in the temple that you can't rely on someone else but yourself. The music portraying your pounding heart and the eerie feal to the temple.

[Verrick]

Originally Posted by triskiller

A wall decorated with lots of paintings or reliëfs(i dunno what you call em in america) a dark surrounding with an empty feel. You feel that you are alone in the temple that you can't rely on someone else but yourself. The music portraying your pounding heart and the eerie feal to the temple.

they are still called reliefs in america. Just no accent marks.

[TriforceOfDeath]

link is trapped in a room with lots of torture devices, someone else is with him... suddenly theres is banging and screaming on the walls then blood starts flowing in from the walls. Then possibly links accomplice could be standing in the blood and be pulled through... then everything goes dark, silent then link lights his lantern and the camera faces link... it moves back and you see a large monster behind link, barely visible from the light... if screams and attacks link, cue battle.

[The Great Panda]

Is it weird in the least that I compiled a list of what I want when it comes to the "scary" dungeon in the next Zelda game?

+ A haunting soundtrack: Having the right music can really set the mood of the entire dungeon, so long as it isn't the focal point.

+ History: Instead of making it to where the villain made the place the way it is, why don't they make it to where the dungeon has been the way it is since the beginning. Give it some history.

+ Ambient sounds that make your skin crawl: To really set the mood, have the occasional scream of agony in the background, the moan of a zombie, or the demonic laugh of the dungeon's boss. Believe it or not, the screams of agony can help heighten the fear since there are other people in this dungeon, and all of them are being tortured in some grotesque way.

+ Clever use of props: This can be especially useful when combined with the ambient sounds of people screaming in agony. Having instruments of torture in some rooms that appear to be freshly used and particularly foreboding can be quite unnerving. And, for added effect, have the occasional sound of a door opening and closing in the background. This gives you the feelings that these pour souls are being carted from room to room. Not only that, but you can also have skeletons hanging from chains or cages. In fact, they don't have to be skeletons. They can be fresh bodies or half-rotted corpses.

+ As ugly as possible: The dungeon doesn't need to be fancy, just scary. Try to cut back on decoration and instead go for something that can be considered fear-worthy.

+ Enemies must fit the theme: Rats are not scary in games, so don't use them in this scary dungeon. Use things like zombies, ghosts, liches, etc.

+ No light: Use as little light as possible. Don't make it so dark to where the player has to use their lamp at all times, though.

If anyone wants to expound upon this, you may.

[Hylian Dan]

To make a dungeon scary, there could be a powerful enemy roaming about it. The player won't want to confront such an enemy and will be wary and on guard as he progresses through the temple. One of the reasons I found OoT's well creepy was because of that huge green skull flying through the main halls. Every time I had to travel down one of those corridors I would be quick and watchful about it. True, it wasn't really much of a threat, but when I was younger I would prefer to avoid it.

Now imagine if a boss enemy weren't restricted to one locked up room, but would wander about the dungeon until you found a way to defeat it, which shouldn't be possible until you've gone through most of the dungeon, completing the puzzles, defeating lesser enemies, gaining items, reaching key rooms, etc. So while you're doing all these dungeon tasks, there's a gigantic spider wandering around, trying to devour you every time you run into it. You have no means of defeating it until you find a certain item or reach a certain room or something like that. As a result, every time you see a large crack in a wall or have to turn a corner or see a ceiling veiled in shadows you will be terrified that the spider boss will suddenly appear and attack you.

[Verrick]

Originally Posted by Hylian Dan

To make a dungeon scary, there could be a powerful enemy roaming about it. The player won't want to confront such an enemy and will be wary and on guard as he progresses through the temple. One of the reasons I found OoT's well creepy was because of that huge green skull flying through the main halls. Every time I had to travel down one of those corridors I would be quick and watchful about it. True, it wasn't really much of a threat, but when I was younger I would prefer to avoid it.

Now imagine if a boss enemy weren't restricted to one locked up room, but would wander about the dungeon until you found a way to defeat it, which shouldn't be possible until you've gone through most of the dungeon, completing the puzzles, defeating lesser enemies, gaining items, reaching key rooms, etc. So while you're doing all these dungeon tasks, there's a gigantic spider wandering around, trying to devour you every time you run into it. You have no means of defeating it until you find a certain item or reach a certain room or something like that. As a result, everytime you see a large crack in the wall or have to turn a corner or see a ceiling veiled in shadows you will be terrified that the spider boss will suddenly appear and attack you.

How are you so smart? I mean really, it seems like all of your posts are well thought out good ideas! Makes me rather jealous.

[BigGoronSword]

You know what's scary? Things that can't be killed are scary. Here are three suggestions I have to make a scary temple:
1. Remember Facade (the boss from LA and mini-boss from OoS)? Well how about making a dungeon where he IS the dungeon and make him stronger. Maybe at the end of the dungeon, you'll be able to see his true form (like the rest of his body).
2. Have invincible enemies like Traps, Stone Statues, Floor tiles (in FSA statues and tombstones were thrown at you and in tMC and PH pots were thrown at you), Thwip, Thwomp, Mad Thwomp, Hard Beetle, etc... One suggestion is to have a horde of Zombies (the zombies from LA). Sure you can kill the zombies, but they always come back. They are unlimited.
3. I got this next idea from Megaman and from LA: Have a mini-boss that steals the dungeon's treasure (just like Master Stalfos did in LA) but he uses it against you. So for example, if Master Stalfos was the mini-boss you have to make a strategy to kill him, but remember, he has the Hookshot. So with the hookshot, he could zip across the room, and even pull you in so you can attack. Once you've found a good strategy and have killed him, the Hookshot is now yours.

-BGS